A place to capture the wonderful memories of our youth in sunny Ceylon remembering the many people, places, events and episodes of a wonderful bygone era.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Remembering old times

DOWN MEMORY LANE ................

When the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in the bathrooms, fail a test or chew gum. And the banquets were in the tuck-shop, and we danced to a gramophone later, and all the girls wore fluffy pastel gowns and the boys wore 'longs' for the first time, and we were allowed to stay out and watch a 9.30 pm show at the Liberty and the Majestic and the Savoy....! and the biggest thrill was holding hands ...... !

When a Sunbeam Alpine or an MG was everyone's dream car, to cruise, peel out, lay rubber and watch the road races and people went steady and it was the greatest weekend to go to the Galle Face Hotel's 'Coconut Grove' with the JETLINERS, or to Ceylinco with the SPITFIRES or to the Little Hut with the AMAZING GRACE or to the Akasa Kade with Sam the Man ! The entrance ticket to the GFH ~ Coconut Grove Sundown Dance with the Jetliners on Sundays was five ruppees per adult .

And no one ever asked where the car keys were 'cause they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked, and you got into big trouble if you accidentally locked the doors at home, since no one ever had a key. The national armed forces were for regimented purposes only !

Remember, lying on your back on the grass with our friends and saying things like "That cloud looks like a..." and playing cricket with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game. Back then, cricket was not a psychological group learning experience - it was a game !

Remember when stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals 'cause no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger ? The Parliament had gentlemen MPs of distinction & repute .

And... with all our progress... don't you just wish... just once...you could slip back in time and savour the slower pace... and share it with the children of the 80's and 90's...

So, send this on to someone who can still remember Bill Haley and the Comets, The Hardy Boys, Laurel & Hardy, Roy Rogers and 'Trigger', Famous Five, The Galle Face Green, The Lone Ranger, Kinross .... The Otters, Bobby Arnolda Tours, The Piccadilly at Wellawatte, 'house-dances', Jam Sessions, Zellers at Bamba, Sunday Choice on Radio Ceylon, that even the Indians in Bombay, etc., still talk about!

Jimmy Barucha and Chris Greet, Donavan Andree and Vijaya Corea , ' The Blue Leopard ' and of course Sirisanda... Bill Forbes and the Jay Cee Shows at Mount Lavinia Hotel and evenings filled with bike rides, playing in cowboy land, and visits to the pool... and the 'Bambalapitiya Flats'.... eating Fish & Chips & Sundaes with that special chocolate sauce at the 'Fountain Cafe.' ( I still remember the mouth-watering "knicker bocker glory", and the jaggery sundae) Then there was delicious Buriyani at Pilawoos , Chinese Dragon Cafe and the Mayfair ........ !

When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home. Basically, we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of terrorism'....drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, alcohol and road rage ....... etc.

Michael Tissera, PI Peiris, Dennis Ferdinands, Buddy & Ronald Reid , Keith Labrooy, Anura Tenekoon , played cricket for St Thomas' Mt Lavinia, Nimal Maralande, Denzil Kobbekaduwa played rugby for Trinity , Ken Balendra, Roti Seevaratnam represented Royal at rugby, Josephians & Peterites , Anadians and Nalandians , Benedictines and other schools also had super sportsmen of repute, All Ceylon cricket squad comprised six medical doctors in blazers & flannels, former schoolboy cricketers DS Senanayake , Dudley Senanayake, Sir John Kotelawala and JR Jayawardena in Parliament ....... it was not whether you won or lost - but how you played the game!

Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat ! But we all survived....because their love was greater than their threat .

Didn't that make you feel good ? … just to go back and say, " Yeah, I remember that ! ' ...... and was it really that long ago?